Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, and National Development Planning (PPN) Minister and National Development Planning Board head Suharso Monoarfa reviewed two special economic zones (KEKs) in Batam on Wednesday.
As part of their visit to Batam, Riau Islands, they inspected the construction of a new hangar at the Repair and Overhaul of Batam Aero Technic (BAT) at Hang Nadim Airport and Nongsa Digital Park (NDP).
“Since June, the airport (development) has been progressing, such as the construction of a new hangar, the increased maintenance capacity, the increased number of workers to 3,000, 1,500 engineers, and the rest are mechanics,” Hartarto said.
Meanwhile, in NDP, there are 11 data centers with an investment value of Rp14 trillion and electricity needs above 125 MW, he noted.
“So, this is good progress, and of course, the government will encourage this digital park to realize its investment in the near future,” he said.
In addition, to meet the value of the investment, the government has approved Batam’s development as a national strategic project, he added.
“It has been approved by the President, especially for the development of solar power plants (PLTS), some of which will be used domestically and the rest can be exported to neighboring countries,” he said.
According to Hartarto, his ministry is still waiting for investment realization for the Sekupang health KEK.
The Indonesian government is making efforts to accelerate the development of special economic zones to support economic growth by absorbing labor and investment. Currently, there are 19 KEKs out of which 11 are industrial and 8 are focused on tourism.
Source: Antara News